


Liberty

by birbisluv



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Captain Sparklez as Tubbo's dad, Gen, Toby Smith | Tubbo-centric, Unintentional 5+1, there are other characters mentioned but not enough to warrent tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29504508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birbisluv/pseuds/birbisluv
Summary: When Tubbo gets his feet under him and has the proper resources he does one of the first things his da taught him.He builds a ship.Or:5 times Tubbo tries to say "fuck this shit im out" and the one time he actually does.
Relationships: Jordan Maron & Toby Smith | Tubbo
Comments: 22
Kudos: 263
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	Liberty

**Author's Note:**

> alrighty so this was a super self indulgent tubbo fic i started and abandoned like, last year or somthn and suddenly finished in under a few hours yesterday.
> 
> it's also unintentionally a 5+1 fic so go me? it's a lil OOC but like i said, self indulgent, sue me. 
> 
> some other characters that make appearances but aren't there long enough to warrant a tag: Schlatt, Badboyhalo, Dream, Wilber, Fundy, Quackity, Ranboo, Puffy, Mianite, Dianite, Ianite, and DreamXD

When Tubbo gets his feet under him and has the proper resources he does one of the first things his da taught him. 

He builds a ship. 

Not a boat, a ship.

He builds a small schooner. Nothing too fancy but sturdy enough to be seafaring. It takes months to get the hull completed with all the distractions. First L’Manburg and then the elections. 

He keeps the ship hidden. Tubbo knows that if the other inhabitants knew about his little project that it would be destroyed within the week. Tubbo isn’t sure why but he knows that if someone were to destroy this little schooner he would break. Perhaps it’s because of the memories he gets. The phantom feel of strong calloused hands covering smaller ones, guiding them through the rhythmic motions as each board and plank is bent to its perfect shape. 

By the time he and Tommy meet together on the bench to discuss Wilber’s decline the schooner is almost completely built. 

When he and Tommy come up with the idea of possibly running away Tubbo almost lets it slip. They could do it. Tubbo knows they could, with his schooner, they just might be able to make it to the isles. 

He has the destination and he has the way to get them there. 

But then Tommy says they can’t run from this and Tubbo knows it’s true. So he never tells Tommy about his ship. 

He doesn’t know what to name her really. His da always said that every ship will find her name long before she’s put to sea. Tubbo doesn’t know what his da meant by that but names aren’t super important at the moment. 

Sometime before the festival Schlatt finds out about Tubbo’s ship. Tubbo finds badboyhalo and Schlatt in the secret cave off the cove where he stows the ship one day and the idea of someone knowing about his schooner fills him with rage and fear that he draws the netherite sword he knows is not from this world. He tells them flatly that if they touch his ship they’ll get thrown into the void and they laugh until the pop of an end portal echos through the cave and a doorway of night sky is suddenly behind them. 

Tubbo’s connection with Ianite isn’t all that strong and she can only offer her champion's son so much in this world but a little intimidation for safety’s sake is more than enough to protect him for now. If this is the only way she can make it known to Tubbo that she is watching over him then so be it. The gesture does not go unappreciated. 

The president and hunter swear to silence and the incident is never brought up. 

~~_ DreamXD watches the encounter unfold and shivers at the presence of an older stronger god in its domain. The lady of balance assured it that she will abide by the protector’s rules and help keep her dimension sealed. _ ~~

He brings the schooner to his mostly abandoned jungle base after that. Sailing under the cover of night, hidden from any prying eyes, to a cove more hidden and more safe than the one back near L’Manburg. Things are escalating between the Schlatt administration and Pogtopia and Tubbo needs the extra insurance that his schooner, quickly becoming his only prized possession in this world, will make it out of any upcoming conflict unscathed. 

When he wakes up after his execution he heads straight towards the jungle base. Towards Liberty. 

Liberty

Huh. It’s a fitting name he thinks for the vessel that will carry him towards freedom. Unfortunately Tommy finds him in the tunnels and Tubbo almost tells him his plans. Almost asks him to come along. But Tommy just hugs him and drags him back to Pogtopia talking for the two of them the whole way. When they arrive, Technoblade is there. 

Tommy immediately seethes with anger. In his declining mental state Wilber sees an opportunity and pounces, urging his little brother-figure into a brutal fight everyone knows he can’t win. Tubbo forgives his executioner robotically and makes up something about how they can’t afford any infighting. Really he just doesn’t want Tommy to get hurt. That night after everyone is asleep he sneaks out of Pogtopia. As luck would have it, Technoblade stands blocking the entrance to the tunnel. They stare at each other in silence for a few moments. 

“It wasn’t sincere, was it...your forgiveness I mean.” Tubbo’s heart is racing and he’s struggling to keep his breathing slow and even. His entire body shakes under the emotionless stare of his executioner. 

_ I was peer pressured _

Yeah right. 

“If I don’t come back,” Tubbo pushes past the piglin hybrid, forcing himself to stare straight ahead. 

“Don’t let Tommy look for me.”

He spends the rest of the night in the cabin of  _ Liberty _ , staring restlessly out the stained glass windows at nothing. There are maps and navigational charts on the desk and a course has been charted. His  _ Liberty _ waits in the quiet waters of the cove. 

By late morning he’s back in Pogtopia. 

He spends most of his time quietly gathering supplies by day and sneaking them into the cargo hold by night. Splitting up what he can stow away and what he can give to Pogtopia to avoid suspicion. Technoblade never approaches or questions him about what he meant which is nice. 

It’s also nice that everyone seems to be joining Pogtopia’s side in the brewing war. 

Then suddenly there’s a traitor. And Tommy is giving him mellohi. Tubbo accepts the disc, and stows it away in an ender chest on  _ Liberty _ for safe keeping, which has now been moved to a new location further away along the shores of a snowy taiga. It's a scenic area, very pretty. It's just the right spot for a quaint little village.

War comes and goes in a flash and somehow he’s become the president of a nation he’s thought about abandoning more than once. Tubbo wishes he’d had the courage to leave days ago. L’Manburg is still a home though and there are people looking to him for relief. Then Techno kills him again. The bastard. 

_ Technoblade whispered to you: you should have left when you had the chance.  _

He almost does, not even questioning how Technoblade knows. He makes it a third of the way to  _ Liberty _ when he hears the explosion. And comes back to a crater. And withers. He runs into Technoblade again. Tubbo levels his gaze at him and sighs. 

“I never asked for this.”

The response is an arrow to the gut. 

Being president is...interesting. He tries, he really does but every decision he makes only seems to end up causing more harm than good. But can you blame him? He just turned seventeen. He’s still a kid. As things worsen he spends more and more time on  _ Liberty _ . 

When she joins the world, Captain puffy ends up being the only person Tubbo actually willingly shows  _ Liberty _ too. She might not be his captain but she’s a captain no less and he needs someone he can trust to see it. To know of it. He knows that puffy would never bring harm to him or his method of escape. She smiles at him, eyes gleaming with pride as she clasps his shoulder. 

“Your father would be so proud, Tubbo. She’s beautiful.” He cries silently into her shoulder with shaking breaths and he thinks maybe, just maybe he can survive here. They leave the icy cove together somber for the loved ones that lie just out of reach but hopeful in the knowledge that the gap can be bridged. Being president might be awful at the moment but he can still have hope. For a moment the future is bright. 

And then Tommy burns that moment of hope to ash. 

From then on Tubbo knew that he would gain nothing from staying in this world any longer. He feels numb every minute of every day. He’s numb when he exiles tommy. He’s numb as Quackity and Fundy berate and manipulate him into horrible half thought out plans to take down enemies leagues stronger than them. He’s numb when Ghostbur gives him the compass. Numb when he loses it and for some reason he still can’t bring himself to truly leave. 

He stares passively at the world around him and wonders when life lost its colors. 

On the boat ride to L’Manburg for the trial and execution Techno tries to taunt him. 

“You haven’t left yet, Odysseus, are you afraid of what Poseidon holds in his depths?” 

His mask of bubbly optimism cracks at the comment. Tubbo laughs brokenly. Poseidon huh? He thinks of a man in a red coat, eyes blue as the waves that have seen countless worlds rise and fall, holding a trident carved from the heart of the sea. A weapon that commanded the ocean herself. He thinks of nights spent staring out onto waters so calm and undisturbed they mirror the heavens as he is shown constellations known only to the gods and a handful of sailors. He thinks of the captain's rare display of rage, cold, sharp, and rough reflected in a storm that ravaged their enemy's ships. 

_ Fear Poseidon? Ha! _

Two can play at that game. He turns back to face his prisoner, eyes glowing a deep unnatural indigo. 

“Afraid? Oh Achilles, Poseidon is my  _ father _ .” 

He laughs again to himself and struggles not to laugh himself to the point of suffocation. Arms shaking as he rows them closer to what he would foolishly hope is justice. Quackity and Fundy seem disturbed by his outburst but do nothing to confront him. Techno seems miffed slightly at the nickname muttering disagreements and corrections about the story of Achilles under his breath. For once he feels something other than numbness or anger. The rest of the trip is uneventful.

The disappointment from the failed execution and non-existant trial doesn’t last long. He goes back to being numb and a pushover, longing for the spark of joy creeping out technoblade gave him. He blinks once and weeks have passed. 

The image of Logsteadshire demolished with a singular tower leaves very little to the imagination. He’s halfway through undoing the mooring lines before Ranboo alerts him to a hostage crisis back in L’Manburg. Tubbo doesn’t even know why he tries anymore. Something will always pull him back. 

Tommy is alive. His friend is alive and breathing. And also calling him a monster. Better than being compared to Schlatt he guesses. Although it might be a fair comparison. They argue about things before Tubbo sighs and tosses over the very weapon that took his life as well as a pickaxe. Conner might not be a L’Manburgian citizen but he doesn’t deserve to die either. Besides Tubbo would like to continue believing he isn’t that heartless just yet. 

He blinks again and suddenly L’Manburg is throwing a second festival. Quackity is trying to repeat history in the worst way and Tubbo barely keeps his head about him as he tells off a man who assisted in Tubbo’s execution.

If you told Tubbo that their plans to kill Dream, the most dangerous and most powerful man in their world, at said festival would end up failing before they could even begin he would not be surprised. Failure at anything is almost a given at this point. Tubbo spares a moment to ponder why they even try anymore when failure pollutes every possible outcome of anything they do. He is surprised however by the ruins of the Community House. Dream blames Tommy and of course L’Manburg gets punished because of the stupid fucking discs. It’s always the discs isn’t it. 

Tommy is there again. 

They fight again. It’s bloody and ugly and no one moves to stop them. Seemingly out of nowhere it’s raining heavily and there’s thunder in the distance. The lake, calm only moments prior, rages. Manic laughter echoes in the minds of three onlookers. 

_ Poseidon is my father... _

And then,

“The discs were worth more than you ever were!”

_ Oh.  _

Time seems to stop. Tommy tries to approach him, he’s saying something but Tubbo can’t hear it. His heart feels like it’s been snapped into one too many pieces to repair. Just like that the last little piece of hope he held for this world is gone. He feels the gods eyes on his back, they’re watching him. 

~~_ DreamXD bristles and huffs at the intrusion. One older more powerful god in its domain could be handled, but three? Three is pushing it. Alas, DreamXD can do nothing but tighten it’s hold on the locked end portal and stew in its distaste for the situation. _ ~~

Tommy is stumbling over something that sounds like it’s supposed to be an apology. He tells Tubbo to give mellohi to Dream. 

He asks Dianite for a favor. Order and Balance turn a blind eye. 

It all happens in slow motion. He turns to Dream and smiles, holding up the disc in question. Lava spawns in at his feet, unnoticed. 

Dream steps forward to take the disc. His smile turns giddy with mania as mellohi slips from his fingers and is plunged into the lava at his feet. It burns with a satisfying sizzle. 

Dream and Tommy  _ scream _ . 

The sound makes him laugh. He sounds like a mad man. Tubbo supposes he is one. He feels Lady Ianite’s end magic build around him tightly like he’d just thrown a pearl. Before Dream can stab him through the chest he vanishes in a cloud of purple particles, stumbling onto the deck of  _ Liberty _ .

Yes, he thinks, it’s time to go home.

  
  
  
  


_ Tubbo_ sailed out of the world _

**Author's Note:**

> Tubbo: you can not kill me in a way that matters mortal.  
> Techno: I'M NOT SCARED OF YOU ALSO YOUR MYTHOLOGY IS WRONG


End file.
